Two Sides of the Spending

Everyone is focused on the spending happening right now, and rightfully so. We're looking at record spending by the government which is eyebrow-raising even for an Obama supporter like myself. They do offer the caveat that within five years, they will have cut the numbers in half, but that's still an enormous figure.

The flip side is that only a part of this money is slated to go to bad mortgages. Large chunks of money are being allocated to infrastructure which has languished for years. Collapsing bridges, spotty Internet service over an antiquated network, the convoluted power grid - all of these are decades past necessary upgrades. Hell, New Orleans still doesn't have a safe levy.

It's encouraging that you can actually look up and see where some of the money is slated to go. It's also encouraging to me that some of it is slated to go to my industry, and my company could be a recipient. We make transport and connecting simpler and less expensive for the network builders.

It's scary to think that all of this re-building for the future could potentially not work, and the spending could turn into massive, insurmountable debt. I just saw a documentary on the Icelandic economy, and I believe that story is the basis for much of the hysteria here in the states. I mean, we're handing millions or billions over to the same people that ostensibly put us in this position.

Overall, I believe rebuilding and generating new areas of research, power, and technology will be a longer-term answer to our short term crisis. I just wish it wasn't this scary.